Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter http://ezezine.com
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
January 30, 2008
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http://FreeWillAstrology.com
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"I guess it shouldn't surprise us to find ourselves linked with the stars.
Every atom of gold or silver jewelry was created in supernovas. The
water we drink, the air we breathe, the ground we walk, the complicated
pouch of fluids and salts and minerals and bones we are -- all forged in
some early chaos of our sun. I think it was the astrophysicist John
Wheeler who remarked that we are the sun's way of thinking about itself."
-Diane Ackerman, *A Slender Thread: Rediscovering Hope at the Heart of
Crisis*
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WHAT'S TO COME?
BRAINSTORM ABOUT THE BIG PICTURE OF YOUR LIFE
with the help of my
Expanded Audio Horoscopes for the Coming Year
Go to http://RealAstrology.com
You can still listen to my long-range, in-depth explorations of your destiny
in 2008. Each report in the three-part series is about 6-9 minutes long.
What will be the story of your life in 2008? How can you exert your free
will to create the adventures that'll bring out the best in you, even as you
find graceful ways to cooperate with the tides of destiny?
If you'd like a high-octane boost of inspiration to fuel you in your quest
for beauty and truth and love and justice and meaning, tune in to my
meditations on your long-term outlook.
A new short-range forecast for this week is also available, both on the
Web and at 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700.
To find out more about Your BIG PICTURE horoscopes, go to
http://RealAstrology.com.
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My book
*PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA:
How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings*
is available for sale at http://tinyurl.com/qaj62
Here's an excerpt:
SUBTERRANEAN PRONOIA THERAPY, Part One
Experiments and exercises in becoming a rebelliously kind, affably
unpredictable, insanely poised Master of Supernal Mischief.
1. "I have not used my darkness well," mourns poet Stanley Moss in his
book Asleep in the Garden. He's right about that. His forays into the realm
of shadows rarely lead to redemption.
"One fine day/ I shall fall down ... in a prison of anger," he moans in one
poem. "In this country I planted not one seed," he announces elsewhere.
Other samples: "vomit is the speech of the soul"; "We die misinformed";
"How goes a life? Something like the ocean/ building dead coral."
But enough. Let's not indulge Moss in his profligacy. Instead, we'll appoint
him to be your anti-role model: an example of what you don't want to
become. May he inspire you to regard your sorrows and failures as
sources of disguised treasure; as raw materials that will fuel future
breakthroughs. Now write a poem or story in which you use your darkness
well.
2. Acquire a hand puppet, preferably a funky old-fashioned one from a
thrift store, but any one will do. Give the puppet a name and wear it on
your hand wherever you go for several days. In a voice different from
your normal one, make this ally speak the "shadow truths" of every
situation you encounter: the dicey subtexts everyone is shy about
acknowledging, the layers of truth that lie beneath the surface, the
agreed-upon illusions that cloud everyone's perceptual abilities.
3. All of us are eminently fallible nobodies. We're crammed with delusions
and base emotions. We give ourselves more slack than we give anyone
else, and we're brilliant at justifying our irrational biases with seemingly
logical explanations. Yet it's equally true that every one of us is a
magnificently enigmatic creation unlike any other in the history of the
world. We're stars with vast potential, gods and goddesses in the making.
Dramatize this paradox. Tomorrow, buy and wear ugly, threadbare clothes
from the same thrift store where you got your hand puppet. Eat the
cheapest junk food possible and do the most menial tasks you can find.
The next day, attire yourself in your best clothes, wear a crown or
diadem, and treat yourself to an expensive gourmet meal. Enjoy a
massage, a pedicure, and other luxuries that require people to wait on
you. On the third day, switch back and forth between the previous two
days' modes every couple of hours. As you do, cultivate a passionate
indifference to the question of whether you are ultimately an unimportant
nobody or a captivating hero.
4. Is it possible that in trying to repress some of the things about yourself
that you don't like, you have also disowned potentially strong and
beautiful aspects of yourself? What are they?
5. Inventor Thomas Edison came up with a lot of ideas that went
nowhere. While trying to develop the perfect battery, his unsuccessful
experiments were comically legion. "I have not failed," he mused. "I've
just found 10,000 ways that won't work." There are other ways in which
he didn't match the profile we usually associate with genius. He rarely had
a dramatic breakthrough out of the blue, for instance. Most often, he
tinkered and fussed until he discovered some new useful thing. Of his
1,093 patents, some were inventions he purposefully set about to create,
but most he simply stumbled upon.
Describe an area of your life where you've discovered 10,000 ways that
don't work.
6. Chantepleure is a word that means "to sing and weep simultaneously."
Think of a memory that moves you to do just that.
7. For the 2001 Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert, artist David
Best constructed the "Mausoleum: Temple of Tears." Made from wooden
pieces of dinosaur puzzles, this pagoda-like sanctuary took him weeks to
perfect. Pilgrims who visited it were encouraged to write prayers on the
walls, mourning dead loved ones and exorcising adversaries who had
passed over. At the end of the festival, Best hosted a mass ritual of grief
and burned his masterpiece to ash.
Draw inspiration from Best's project. Create a talisman or ritual tool out
of whimsical junk, use it a while to catalyze a catharsis, then destroy it or
throw it away.
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To read news and features from my book, go here:
http://tinyurl.com/lhwx2
You can buy the book here:
AMAZON
http://tinyurl.com/qaj62
POWELLS
http://tinyurl.com/3dsx6q
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OTHER PRONOIA RESOURCES:
SPIRITUALLY ACTIVIST RADIO
Visionary Activist Radio Show, hosted by Caroline Casey
http://tinyurl.com/2xu27a
SPIRITUALLY ACTIVATED NEWS
Rose Colored News
Good news for progressives about politics, the environment, health, and
more.
http://www.rosecolorednews.com/
SPIRITUALLY ACTIVATED ENVIRONMENTALISM
"Green Hermeticism"
http://tinyurl.com/ys9ysg
http://tinyurl.com/2fyjtb
"What is Green Hermeticism? It's a response to the problem that there
hasn't been sufficient spiritual focus for the environmental movement.
Without a spiritual focus, a movement like this doesn't generate the kind
of emotional energy that it needs to battle against global capitalism."
(Note: I endorse these because I like them. They are not advertisements,
and I get no kickbacks.)
Please tell me your own personal nominations for PRONOIA RESOURCES.
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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Week beginning January 31
Copyright 2008 by Rob Brezsny
http://FreeWillAstrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): You're reading a horoscope column that's
designed not only for the benefit of true believers, but also for people
who don't necessarily buy into the validity of astrology. If you're one of
those who enjoys my writing even though you're skeptical of my
attempts to divine oracles from the planetary positions, I thank you for
being willing to find value in an approach that your rational mind may
regard as questionable. And I thank you for evaluating the information I
present here on the basis of its usefulness rather than on where it
originates. By the way, Aquarius, the attitudes I just described will serve
you in good stead in your dealings with the whole world during the coming
week.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Neither God nor the gods are dead, but
they've virtually disappeared because so few people are capable of
carrying on authentic relationships with them anymore. The materialist
delusion rules our world: Millions believe that nothing's real unless it can
be perceived by the five senses. Churches and temples are full of ethical
people, but most of them have no clue about how to know or feel or
converse with the divine presences. So what can the deities do, having
been banished from our midst? Psychologist Carl Jung said the gods have
no recourse but to worm their way into our lives as sickness and
pathology. And that's how you may encounter them in the coming days,
Pisces. But get this: As soon as you see through their distorted disguises
and recognize them for what they really are, they can be themselves
again, whereupon they will bestow the exact blessings you need in order
to become a smarter version of yourself.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): *The Onion* newspaper reported on a South
Carolina man who was so grateful for what God had done in the previous
week that he put an extra $5 in the collection plate at church on Sunday.
Brad Thaden was especially pleased with the nice weather and how well
his kids had behaved. I expect that by February 18, Aries, you too might
feel the urge to give Supreme Being a tip, or do whatever the equivalent
might be in your world. Among the extra perks you could be blessed with:
a deeper connection with a resource you've wanted to be closer to; the
heating up of a promising alliance; a social upgrade that will make you feel
more at home in the world; and a vision of where to go next with your
ambitions.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): If you are a member of the Isoko people in
Nigeria, you have three intimate spirit guides. Omo is your guardian angel.
Obo, or "right hand," is the ally who helps you get things done. Ivri is a
tough, gutsy, and sometimes combative character that pushes you to
take a stand and fight for your rights. As an exercise, Taurus, I urge you
to imagine that you have these three accomplices working on your behalf
in the coming weeks. It's high time for you to forcefully lay claim to all of
the vigorous assistance and collaboration that you deserve. While you're
at it, ask a few actual humans to deliver their special favors to aid your
cause, too.
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EXPLORING YOUR LONG-RANGE FUTURE
Would you like some inspiration as you muse and wonder about your
upcoming adventures in 2008?
You can still listen to my long-range, in-depth explorations of your destiny
in 2008. Each report in the three-part series is about 6-8 minutes long.
Go to http://RealAstrology.com
for these EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES
A new short-range forecast for this week is also available, both on the
Web and at 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700.
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GEMINI (May 21-June 20): HappyWomanMagazine.com sought out several
supermodels for advice about spirituality. "Buddhists have the best
religion," said 6'1", 102-pound Ilize Bergeron. "They don't believe in
heaven or hell or God, and they don't pray. Plus, Buddhism is so
mysterious that you could probably fool your boss into giving you lots of
random days off work for religious holidays. One more thing: It's the
trendiest religion out there right now." In light of your current astrological
omens, Gemini, you might want to draw inspiration from Ilize's
perspective. In the coming weeks, you need to feed your spiritual side,
but in ways that are fun, light-hearted, uncomplicated, guilt-free, and
unburdened by concerns about reward and punishment.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): "Thunder is good, thunder is impressive,"
wrote Mark Twain. "But it is the lightning that does the work." According
to my analysis of the omens, Cancerian, your job right now is to be like
the lightning, even if other people's thunder is temporarily hogging the
credit and the attention. It may take a while, but your bolts of pure
energy, not their noisy hype, will ultimately be appreciated as the most
important factor in the group success.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Daniel Tammet is a savant who can quickly
perform complex mathematical calculations in his head. Every number up
to 10,000 has a special shape and feel for him. He experiences 37 as a
lumpy, warm goo, while 89 invokes visions of snow falling. Although I
don't normally have this relationship with numbers, I did get a vivid
psychic vision of 77 while meditating on your current astrological omens.
It appeared to me as a scene of two people bobbing and tumbling while
wearing scuba gear and trying to make love underwater in a heated
swimming pool. Assuming this is an oracle, what does it signify
symbolically? Maybe it's time for you to seek a new kind of union in the
depths. Or perhaps you should get more playful in your approach to sex.
It might also mean you should enjoy playing with deep emotions.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): After studying your challenging astrological
aspects, I decided to do a mid-winter ritual in your behalf. Waking at
dawn, I took a frigid hour-long bike ride to the top of Mt. Tamalpais. As I
ascended, I murmured a prayer: "I give the energy of this cold, hard labor
to Virgos. May it inspire them to meet their own tasks with exuberant
stamina." When I began the ride, I was miserably uncomfortable. Within
ten minutes, I had broken a sweat and was thoroughly warm. Soon the
endorphins kicked in, and the climb to the top was blissful. That's the
progression I wish for you.
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LET'S IMAGINE WHAT BEAUTIFUL MYSTERIES
MIGHT COME YOUR WAY IN 2008
What hidden factors will be massaging your destiny in 2008? Could you
use some hints about how to prepare for the adventures awaiting you in
the next 12 months?
You can still listen to my long-range, in-depth explorations of your destiny
in 2008. Each report in the three-part series is about 6-8 minutes long.
Go to http://RealAstrology.com
for these EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES
A new short-range forecast for this week is also available, both on the
Web and at 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): The planet's biggest annual orgy of pollination
is about to take place. A million beehives from all over America and
Australia are on trucks headed to a 600,000-acre patch of almond
orchards in California's Central Valley. For the next three weeks or so, 40
billion bees will be in service to almond flowers as they facilitate the
mixing of male and female reproductive materials. This scene could rightly
serve as your metaphor of the week, Libra. You, too, are primed for a
tremendous pollination event -- a time of intense mingling in service to
fertility.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): One goal of meditation is to empty the mind
of its obsessively generated thoughts, rationalizations, and images. Alas,
much of the media functions as a reverse meditation machine. Not only
does it stir up your own mental clatter, it also floods you with the
seething surge of other people's private pandemoniums. Furthermore, it
delivers this rattling racket with entertaining words and brilliant color and
crystalline sound, driving it as deeply into your psyche as your own
flotsam. Keep this in mind throughout February, which is Clean Out Your
Brain Month. Cut way back on your media intake. Snack lightly rather than
gorging continually.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): "There are two things to aim at in life,"
wrote essayist Logan Pearsall Smith. "First to get what you want, and
after that to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second." As
you have probably already guessed, Sagittarius, one of your main
challenges in 2008 is to be one of the wise who accomplishes that second
thing. And you're about to experience a major turning point in your ability
to pull it off.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): "Personally, I would sooner have written
*Alice in Wonderland* than the whole Encyclopedia Britannica," said
Capricorn writer Stephen B. Leacock. I encourage you to adopt a similar
attitude in the coming weeks. Unleashing your heated creativity will be
more important to your success than gathering the cool facts. Being an
irrepressible devotee of the wild mind will be more practical than marching
in lock step to logical necessity.
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HOMEWORK: Make a playful effort to change something you've always
assumed you could never change. Report results to me by going to
http://FreeWillAstrology.com and clicking on "Email Rob."
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WANT TO GET YOUR CHART DONE?
I'm not doing personal charts, but I highly recommend my astrological
colleague, RO LOUGHRAN. Her approach closely matches my own. In our
many discussions about astrology over the years, we've had a major
influence on each other's work.
Ro utilizes a blend of well-trained intuition, emotional warmth, and a high
degree of technical proficiency in horoscope interpretation; she is skilled
at exploring the mysteries of your life's purpose and nurturing your
connection with your own inner wisdom.
Ro is based in California, but can do phone consultations and otherwise
work with you regardless of geographic boundaries.
Ro's website is at
http://YourSoulJourney.com
She can also be reached at roloughran@comcast.net
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NEED TO CHANGE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS?
To join or leave the email list for this newsletter, or to change the address
where you receive it, go to:
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Once you do join, check all the below points to make sure you'll actually
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1. Add my address, televisionary@comcast.net, to your address book so
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"Junk Mail" folder.
5. The problems may not have to do with anything you do, but may
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that's the case, complain. Tell your email provider to stop blocking my
newsletter from reaching you.
P.S. I totally respect your privacy. I'll never sell or give away your address
to anyone.
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Submissions sent to the Free Will Astrology Weekly Newsletter
or in response to "homework assignments" may be
published in a variety of formats at Rob Brezsny's discretion,
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Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright
2008 Rob Brezsny
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